By Ravin Singh

HAVING struggled over the last decade to acquire finances to support its developmental agenda, the University of Guyana (UG) would be moving to introduce a graduation fee for students leaving the institution after successfully completing their studies.This was revealed by newly appointed Vice Chancellor (VC) Professor Ivelaw Griffith, who underscored the need for UG to capitalize on missed opportunities related to revenue creation.

Speaking at his maiden press conference on Friday, the VC, who officially assumed office on June 14, explained that change has to be brought to UG, and this requires conversations which would sketch out a developmental plan for the learning institution.

He explained that one of the important things about any moment of change is that there is opportunity to update things which were not previously included in the landscape.

“I intend to use that opportunity to look at many things, including fees that were not on the landscape before,” Professor Griffith said.
The VC, who has focused much of his attention on finances during previous engagements with the media, said UG has been practising the science of “muddling through on finances”, and not using opportunities to introduce fees which are standard in every university in the Caribbean and around the world.

The Professor, the first student at UG to have graduated with a distinction in Political Science, disclosed that no person who has ever graduated from UG has ever paid a graduation fee.

“That is a standard fee at every university. When you ‘walk’ at the graduation ceremony, it takes thousands of dollars to put that ceremony on. Every university that I know in Latin America, the Caribbean and Europe, there is a contribution by the students graduating, to that ceremony,” the VC said.

Though he did not say when, Professor Griffith confirmed that this fee would be introduced.

“We would have to have a conversation about how much this fee will be, but we have to have a graduation fee,” he declared.

Further, he noted that the institution’s administration would have to examine opportunities which extend beyond Guyana, and even the introduction of fees that do not affect Guyanese students, but would be important contributions by foreign students.

“We will have to examine whether there were missed opportunities with fees,” the VC said.

Commenting on whether he believes the current tuition is adequate to finance operations at the publicly-funded institution, Profession Griffith explained that he has not had the opportunity to examine the fees to determine whether he is comfortable with them. However, he committed to examining same in the near future.

The VC has also weighed in on Government subvention for the university, noting that the administration is in the process of compiling its budget request, which will be allied with independently acquired revenue.

“I know (that) what we will ask the Government for, we will not be able to get all, and so we have to look at ways to generate revenue. And this involves looking at opportunities that we may have missed: whether fees need to be upped, or a fee that needs to be introduced,” he said.